Microsoft will remove third-party printer drivers from Windows. Microsoft will eliminate support for third-party printer drivers; it will not do so immediately but starting from 2027, even if the company has made it known that the “expiry” date could vary.
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Manufacturers will have time but will have to adapt: for security reasons, it will not be possible to propose drivers for new devices via Windows Update (in any case, updates to existing drivers will be authorised), support for the IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) protocol will be favoured. and everything should be facilitated by Mopria certification, a technology that allows printing without third-party drivers.
Even now, if a driver is not available in Windows Update when you install a new printer, Windows will automatically install Mopria-certified printers, which eliminates the need to install additional software or drivers, allowing you to print regardless of the brand or model of the printer.
The Mopria alliance – reports The Register – was born in 2013 from the collaboration between Canon, HP, Samsung and Xerox, with the aim of creating universal standards for printing and scanning documents; subsequently Brother, OKI Epson, Lexmark, Adobe, Lexmark, Microsoft and others also joined the alliance.
Since the update to Windows 10 build 21H2, Microsoft has offered official support for the Mopria service thanks to the Microsoft IPP drivers for USB and network devices; after the update to Windows 10 21H2, many printer and multifunction manufacturers no longer have to worry about distributing specific drivers and utilities for printing and scanning. You can offer customized features (color, duplex, paper type, print quality, paper size, media type, resolution, number of copies, orientation, input and output tray selection, etc.) through apps on the Windows Store , all with the aim of improving reliability and performance. Most modern printers support the Mopria standard and are certified by Mopria
